100 Drabbles Starring P, A, & A
by paigetheclarinetist
Summary: My 100 Drabbles with Piper, Amberly, and Audrey. T for language and occasional perverted comments...
1. Introductions

My first series of drabbles. I adore writing and I get writer's block easily, so I'm working on this a little to keep up with it. I think I'm doing pretty well, but I dunno. You'll have to tell me.

Also, you'll meet the three main characters. They're all girls and they're working on dominating their band, Piper, Audrey, & Amberly. So, R&R!

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It was her first day in that marching band; she was a freshman. Piper was pretty, and most people didn't look at her like a band member. She could only hope, think, pray that those around her wouldn't be the same way.

She clutched her instrument in her hand. She stopped moving and took a deep breath. Lifting her clarinet to her lips, moving her fingers across the keys, she played the prettiest of melodies. Within seconds, the girl was part of the family. Amazing, smart, gorgeous Piper been accepted into the marching band. That's one way to introduce yourself.


	2. Complicated

Audrey looked across the band room. She'd never felt so different when she looked at someone as she did when looking at Michael.

She'd never allowed herself to fall in love with, date, or even kiss a boy. She'd stayed alone, stubborn. She let her emotions out only from the mouthpiece of her precious French horn. No one could understand her, no one but her best friend. And her best friend was lost in her own world. Audrey had to figure out what to do with Michael, the trombonist, on her own. She loved him.

But it was so _complicated_.


	3. Making History

It couldn't be. She was a freshmen. Freshmen weren't section leaders in her band. It had never happened.

"You earned what you have," said the sophomore clarinetist.

"I don't know how to believe that," Piper shook her head. "Am I really _good_?"

"If you're section leader, you're good. And you're a freshmen."

Piper had to sit down. She had worked so hard, memorizing her music and practicing dedicatedly every night. But she'd never thought that she'd receive _this_. Section leaders were the best, the oldest, the most dedicated.

Piper had made history. The first freshmen section leader in her band.


	4. Rivalry

Amberly couldn't take it much longer. She couldn't take sitting second to him. To obnoxious, egotistical Jack. Her first rival, for she'd never been beaten in the past years. But joining high school marching band, she'd given up her first spot and moved on to sitting next to him. She hated him, she yearned to beat him.

She could play better than he. She knew she could, she _knew_. She'd catch attention from the band director, and soon she would join Piper as a freshman section leader. She lifted her trumpet to her lips and played. She had to win.


	5. Unbreakable

_Crash._

Everyone's heads shot up to look around for the sound's producer. It was a bad noise, like the clumsiest boy in the band room had fallen on the tuba case again.

"I'm okay!" a weak voice sounded out from the storage room. James. He was so typical. Piper was the first to her feet, running into the storage room after her boyfriend.

"Mr. Fisher! Remember how you said that it was impossible to break off a tuba case?" she said from the doorway. The band director looked at her strangely, and she smiled widely. "Well, trust me. It's _not_."


	6. Obsession

They were all obsessed. All of them.

Piper was obsessed with being the best section leader possible and with her clarinet.

Amberly was obsessed with beating Jack and becoming a section leader.

Audrey was obsessed with Michael and with playing better than her section leader.

And all three of the girls, the three best friends, were obsessed with band. Not such a bad obsession, I suppose. But it was the dozens of band geek stickers covering their every possession, the music-note tee shirts, the band music on their iPods, the refusing of having friends _outside_ of band.

A good obsession.


	7. Eternity

Piper grasped James' hand tightly, "Our first game."

"_Your_ first game," he shook his head. "I'm a sophomore."

"You did good, kid," he said. She bubbled over inside; the warm feeling of doing something right mixed in with the feeling of being a marching band geek.

Piper shrugged and adjusted her plume. It had been her first marching experience at a real football game. She was excited. It was a feeling she never wanted to give up. A feeling she wished she'd always have, that she'd carry into college, into her future career, and into the rest of her life.


	8. Gateway

Audrey felt the hot breath on her face, knowing it wasn't hers. It made her shiver, quake. She was nervous, anxious. Her whole body was quivering under the loving gaze of Michael, and she'd never felt that way before.

Michael, being a lot taller than petite Audrey, bent down and pressed his lips against hers. His hands landed on her waist and she looped her arms around his neck. She'd never kissed a boy before. And Michael was the only kiss she ever wanted to have.

Kissing Michael was a gateway to falling in love with him. It was perfect.


	9. Death

Piper wiped away a teardrop from the corner of her eye and held Amberly's arm a little tighter. She rested her head on top of Amberly's and the tears fell down a little easier. Audrey's small head was on her shoulder. All three of the girls were sobbing. They'd never cried so hard in their lives.

They'd lost one of their favorite people. They'd have cried if the girl hadn't been one of their favorite people. But Brandy had died in a car accident that morning. And they'd never see her again. Their fellow band geek, a flute player. Gone.


	10. Opportunities

"Piper, I want you to play the solo at the game on Friday."

"WHAT?"

"Piper, Amanda's sick and can't play it."

"You shouldn't have given it to the second chair clarinetist in the _first_ place."

"Seniority, Piper. This is a great opportunity, and you'll be an idiot if you turn it down."

The solo at the game on Friday. In the middle of the field. Everyone staring at her. Playing it better than Amanda could to start with. In her ugly Carolina blue and navy marching band uniform. Everyone watching her. Furthering her chances for getting a musical scholarship.

"Absolutely."


	11. 33

"How many trumpets are they taking?" There was a competition the day after Piper's solo at the game. Piper and Amberly were being sent. Against their will.

"Thirty-three."

"Random number."

"It is what it is," Piper shrugged. "They're taking thirty-three clarinets, too."

"Not that _you_ have anything to worry about. You don't have to beat Jack at this stupid thing!"

"God forbid you worried about beating the other trumpeters that are going to be there."

"Thirty-three. What is it with that number?"

"What do you think they have in mind?"

One competition, taking thirty-three clarinets and thirty-three trumpets. Why thirty-three?


	12. Dead Wrong

Piper wasn't a humble person. She beat those egotistical trumpet players by a mile. She was stubborn and conceited and she liked to talk about herself. But mostly, she never admitted to being wrong. Not once, not ever. She didn't plan on it, either.

"Piper, why are you freaking out about this so bad?" James asked, holding her arm.

"I have a solo!"

"And?"

"I shouldn't have taken it! God, I'm an idiot! I was wrong. I shouldn't be first-"

"You admitted you were wrong!"

"James, not the time!"

"Piper…"

"Fine, I was. _Dead wrong_." Piper laughed; she was _wrong_.


	13. Running Away

After Piper's solo, they were in the stands. Amberly sat on the bottom row with Jack. Studying him. Chiseled features, dark black hair that fell over his brown eyes, lips swollen from the marching band set they'd just played. God, he was gorgeous. Woah, Amberly, be careful.

Jack turned and caught her eye. And then he kissed her. It was magical. She'd never had a kiss like that, especially not with a insufferable boy like Jack. She was hit with a rush of strong feelings. Her heart rose up in her throat.

He pulled back and smirked.

She ran away.


	14. Judgment

Piper stepped into the concert hall after her audition and joined Amberly across the room. Her friend was still shaking from her own audition and from last night. She felt eyes on her, like usual. Judging her, stereotyping her, cliquing her. In her short skirt and slim-fitted tee, she knew she'd been placed in the prep category.

She looked at Amberly, in the black baggy pants adorned with chains and skull buttons. She'd just surprised them when she sat down next to her and whispered into her ear.

It was really hard to judge Piper, even if you wanted to.


	15. Seeking Solstice

Piper crashed down on the band bus when the rest of her band members had auditioned. She was exhausted. From her solo the night before to her audition for the new county band, she was completely extinguished of energy. Amberly plopped down in the empty seat beside her and groaned.

"Today was the longest day _ever_."

James' head appeared over the bus seat and he looked down at the two girls. "That's in _June_."

"Sarcasm, James."

"Isn't it called the sol-stick?" Piper thought aloud.

Amberly shot her a look, "You aren't _helping_."

"You mean the solstice, right?"

"Oh, that's it!"


	16. Excuses

Amberly didn't want to see Jack, she didn't want to feel that love again. No, never again. But there he was, and the minute she saw him sitting there on the bus, it was there.

She sat down next to him and took a breath, "I shouldn't have run away."

"I agree."

"I just can't like you. You're rude and-"

"Stop making excuses, Ams. Do you like me? Do you?"

Egotistical, narcissistic, big-headed Jack.

"No. I don't like you. I love you."

She kissed him. He smiled when she pulled away, "Of course you do." So obnoxious, but so amazing.


	17. Vengeance

**I just wanted to break in and say that I know it goes from super-serious to really funny or just **_**weird**_**, but that's what it's supposed to be. A marching band is like a weird, sometimes-dysfunctional family. And who doesn't love that?**

"James, stop it!" Piper squealed. She tore out of her chair and ran to the other side of the band room, hiding behind a tall trombonist. Amberly and Audrey were on her heels, soon hiding beside her.

James, Jack, and Michael had gotten silly string at the stop on the way home from the auditions. The minute they'd arrived back at the band room, they'd revealed them and started their attack on the girls.

Purple silly string was woven in Piper's long hair, streaking Amberly's black-on-black wardrobe.

"We will have vengeance!" Audrey screamed.

"You'll never hear the last of us!"


	18. Love

"James! James, we made it!" Piper flung her arms around her boyfriend.

He lifted her up off the ground and kissed her, "I knew you would, Pipe."

"I knew _you_ would."

James looked into her big green eyes. Deep, exotic, enthralling eyes. She was so beautiful. Inside and out, she was a gorgeous person. "Piper, I love you."

Piper gasped, then her perfect 'O'-shaped mouth grew into a smile. He'd never said it to her before, nor she to him. He'd finally realized that he loved her. And the moment he said it, she knew it.

"I love you too!"


	19. Tears

Audrey thought it was too sweet. She tried not to cry, but it was hard. Tears trickled out of the corners of her eyes, watching Piper and James. True love, like Amberly and Jack. Michael's arms were around her waist, his head on top of hers.

"Do you love me, Michael?" She loved him. He _had_ to love her back. He _had_ to.

"I love you, Audrey," he nodded. "And I'm always here to dry your tears."

He spun her around and kissed her. It was the perfect kiss. It was so amazing, that she couldn't help but cry more.


	20. My Inspiration

Amberly leaned forward and added a set of sixteenth notes onto the paper in front of her. She was writing her first piece of music. It was titled the corniest title ever, _Trumpeters In Love_. For her and Jack. He was quite an inspiring boyfriend. Her inspiration.

Jack came up behind her and bent over to read what she had so far, "Amberly, what's that title say?" Amberly tried to block it with her hand, but he could still read it. "_Trumpeters In Love_, eh? That's me and you, isn't it?"

"Oh, be quiet, Jack."

Jack smirked; Amberly couldn't lie.


	21. Never Again

**Disclaimer: Lyrics belong to Kelly Clarkson. **

**I also just wanted to put a little author's note in here. I wanted to know how you liked the drabbles' progress? I tried to make it a set of drabbles that all fit in together, and then after I built this up I could write a prequel or a sequel, or something that fit in to it… what do you think?**

* * *

_She may believe you,_

_But I never will,_

_Never again._

Isabelle stomped her foot and glared at her now ex-boyfriend, Matt. He'd cheated on her. _Cheated_ on her! How could someone do that? Amberly had labeled her as perfect; she was Asian and the black-haired, brown-eyed sister of Jack. No one cheated on Isabelle. She was too cute.

"I didn't mean to, Is."

"She may believe you, but I never will! Never _again!_" Jack and Amberly stood protectively behind her. Piper and Audrey were observing.

"Isabelle!"

The minuscule Asian girl ran away from him. Must have learned something from Amberly…


	22. Online

**Disclaimer: Lyrics belong to Brad Paisley.**

Every marching band has it's theme song. Piper's was no different. Of course, while most bands either had a bouncy rap song that _everyone_ knew the words to or a head-banging anthem, Piper's band had a song they could _play_. And it actually had the words 'marching band' in it. That was really _something_.

_In real life the only time I've ever even been to L.A,  
Is when I got the chance with the marching band,  
To play tuba in the Rose Parade._

"'_I'm so much cooler online_!'" Piper, Isabelle, Audrey, and Amberly sang. It was a pretty cool anthem.


	23. Failure

The last competition of the season. Everyone was antsy. They sat in wait impatiently. Piper looked at the seniors. The girls were teary-eyed at their last competition, the boys were quieter than usual. As the results were given, they were disappointed.

Piper immediately ran to the senior girls. She was tearing up, and soon the other girls collected around them. She had let them down, they all had.

They weren't prepared for failure. They rarely didn't place at competitions. But everyone knew one thing; they'd get first next year, just for those seniors. They couldn't bear to fail them again.


	24. Rebirth

The rebirthing of the seniors. The most remembered moment of the marching band year. When the seniors went through the freshmen and picked out who would become the next _them_. The next emo Cara, the prep Lizzie, the geek Adam. It was fun, like a game, except it was tradition. And the seniors' picks almost_always _came true.

Amberly, the next moody, bitchy Marie; Audrey, the next sardonic, aggravating Amy; Piper, the next band majorette, Elizabeth- not that she'd ever give up her clarinet for _that_; Isabelle, the next sweet Lizzie.

The seniors had been reborn. But they'd be forever missed.


	25. Breaking Away

The nine seniors in the band- Lizzie, Cara, Marie, Amy, Elizabeth, Adam, Joseph, Aaron, and Charles- would be leaving the school forever that spring. They were the band's spirit. Losing them was losing part of their family, a part that they all had dealt with for at least a year.

The winter concert approached quickly. It would be the last chance for the seniors to play in the band before contest and concert season next semester; it was the last time the marching band would be all together, before the seniors would have to break away and go to college.


	26. Forever And A Day

Amberly was being insecure. She worried that Jack wasn't in love with her. She was taking it out on her instrument. Jack was sitting next to her, listening to her strangle the notes. "God, baby! Stop!"

She put down her trumpet. "Do you still love me?" As blunt as ever, Amberly.

"I'll love you forever, beautiful," he kissed her sweetly. He called her beautiful daily, and that was a big 'duh!' sign of love. She wasn't beautiful. She knew he loved her. She didn't know why she'd doubted it.

"I'll love you forever and a day," she kissed him back.


	27. Lost and Found

The Band Geek Lost and Found was a bad idea. Whoever thought it up was very mindless. Most likely a trombone player, 'cause we all know they've got the least amount of mind most of the time.

Audrey looked into the box. The Lost and Found box, created by Michael, a trombonist. Typical.

A mouthpiece for a trumpet; bottles of valve oil; _used_ reeds; a clarinet bell; a flute tuner-thingamatrigger- what _was_ that thing's name; a sax neck-strap; Mr. Fisher's conductor sticky-thingy- she didn't know that thing's name, either.

"This is disgusting. Michael, _why_ did you come up with this?"


	28. Light

Early spring, they were adjusting to get ready to lose their senior friends. Piper was the light of the band, the girl who seemed to make everything better with just a simple comment. She was like a sunbeam on everyone's depressed faces, plus she dressed positively in bright colors.

"Perk up, people!" Mr. Fisher yelled one day.

Piper stood up beside him and waved her arms, "Come on, guys! You don't perk up, Mr. Fisher'll end up with a sore throat!" A laugh rose through the band; she was good at that.

"Thanks for that, Pipe."

"Anytime, Mr. Fisher. Anytime."


	29. Dark

On the way home from the last seniors' contest, it was dark on the bus. Piper sat in the back with James, holding back tears. She didn't know why she was crying, except that she'd miss the seniors. She'd only gotten to have one year with them. They were her family, her oldest sisters and brothers. She was losing the ones that protected her and took the best care of her.

There was always a light in the dark, and it was only that they were going on to bigger and better things. It was a cliché for a reason.


	30. Faith

They were on a mission to scout out new clarinets, trumpets, and French horns for the marching band. Piper walked into the middle school band room and was attacked by her past teacher, Mr. Franks.

"You have to talk to Faith."

Piper looked around the room, and she immediately knew who Faith was. Faith was the pretty girl with a clarinet in her hand, playing by herself in the back row. Sitting next to her was a trumpet and a French horn. They looked exactly like Piper, Audrey, and Amberly. She approached the girl, "Joining up?"

"Abso-freaking-lutely."

Exactly like Piper…


	31. Colors

Girls are colors.

Piper was orange. Spirited, a little crazy, and not-so common. She was the one they all noticed. The one they all loved.

Amberly was black. A little morbid, a little depressing, but still fun. Always fun. She got along with everyone- black is very versatile.

Audrey was red. Usually angry or upset about something, sarcastic, and often bitter. A pessimistic, but still loved.

No matter how strange they seemed, and especially how _different_, they were best friends. An original friendship, but a closer one than most could hope to have. It was a total band geek thing.


	32. Exploration

I've never been in the band room before. So when my friend drug me in there, I was less than happy. I was greeted by the disgustingly strong smell of dried spit and something else gross.

My friend abandoned me, and I was left standing there like an idiot. Observing, I soon noticed a girl walk by me and sit down in a chair. She picked up a black instrument; I guessed a clarinet. She started to play it, mingling melodiously with the other loud sounds in the room.

I ran out of the band room. _Fast_. Never to return.


	33. Seeing Red

Everyone was mad that day, Piper noticed. Everyone was shouting, arguing, and playing really _loudly_. She had a headache. A really bad headache. Her head was freaking _pounding_. And James wasn't even there to make it feel better. He was out sick, again.

Amberly was also mad, but only because she too had a headache. She tapped Piper on the shoulder to get her attention, "Aren't our uniforms navy?"

Piper was too irritable to think about it, "Yup." Normally she would have noticed where Amberly was going with it.

"Then why is everybody _seeing red_?"

"That is _so_ not funny."


	34. Shades of Grey

Every band geek wore black to graduation. Except Piper. She wore grey; 'Black so does _not_ match my color palette.'

They were in mourning. Mourning the loss of their senior friends. Sure, it was a bit dramatic, but they were usually _less_ dramatic than most, and it was okay for them to up it a little bit for just one day. Especially if that was the day they were losing band geeks.

As each senior rose up to get their diplomas, a quiet applause followed. When a senior band geek got their diploma, the whole band cheered. They'd be missed.


	35. Forgotten

School was over. They were in the band room, gathering their things, readying to leave for the summer. The seniors were gone, they'd been gone. Piper smiled at the remaining piece of the seniors.

A large navy poster plastered with photos of each senior in their band uniform, on the field, at competitions, playing alone in the band room. At the bottom of the poster that the juniors had created, it was written _You won't be forgotten._

The poster would never be moved. Forever and ever, until the band room was no longer there, nothing would become of the poster.


	36. Dreamer

On her way home from school, Amberly was pensive. She was dreaming, as usual, her heads caught in the wispy clouds above. All she could think about was Jack. Watching Jack graduate high school, graduate with him watching, going to college with Jack, watching him graduate college one year before her, getting engaged to Jack, marrying Jack, having children with Jack.

Amberly was the dreamer in her group of friends, paired with realistic and usually cranky Audrey and Piper, whose dreams _always_ came true. Amberly didn't know whether her dreams would become true or not, but it never stopped her.


	37. Mist

Piper was talking about life; Amberly was thinking about marriage; Michael was wondering about college; James mentioned marrying Piper; Jack pondered about scholarships; Isabelle thought of how far her flute could take her.

They could all see their future, they could see what they wanted. But Audrey wasn't so sure. She'd always been the more realistic one, never to dream or hope for something to happen. She didn't know what she wanted to do after high school. Maybe she'd marry Michael. Maybe she'd go to college. Maybe she'd get a job.

Her future was hidden from her, in the mist.


	38. Burning

"Uck, what _is_ that _smell_?" Audrey snapped at Piper. She'd been bitchy since they'd gotten out of school.

Piper sniffed the air, "Something's burning."

"Obviously," said Amberly.

"What is that… I've smelt it before…" wondered Audrey.

"Omigod!" Piper squealed.

"What?"

"James!" Piper ran into her bathroom where James, Michael, and Jack were experimenting with Piper's hair straightener. A thin cloud of smoke wafted up to the ceiling from Michael's hair, James with the flat iron in his hand. Michael's perfect brown hair was scorched. "You are _such_ an idiot!"

"You're the one who trusted him with a flat iron."

"Touché."


	39. Out of Time

They lifted their bags and put them in the trunk of their cars. Loads of things had already been shipped up to their colleges, and the last few things they owned were coming with them then. They wouldn't be home for a while; they'd never march with their marching band ever again. They'd never sit in the band room during lunch and laugh with the juniors, or sigh when they saw one of the freshmen with her new boyfriend, remembering the good old days.

They were out of time to be children. They were adults now, out on their own.


	40. Knowing How

Back to school again meant a new schedule, new marching music, and a new boyfriend for Isabelle. So the last one didn't seem like it was school related, but it was for Isabelle. She'd relied on her brother Jack, his girlfriend Amberly, and her friends Piper and Audrey to help her find a boyfriend. She wasn't really sure how; they'd always found her.

A good boyfriend, who loved her and didn't cheat. It was all she wanted. All she needed to make her happy. But as a girl who had only experienced relationships with idiotic cheaters, she didn't know how.


	41. Fork in the Road

She had to choose going with her mother to a new town and a new school, or staying with her father at the place she already was at. Two paths, two different fates.

"Piper, you have to pick me or Mom," her father said gently. Mom just glared.

"I have to pick between my _parents_?" They both nodded. Visions of James, Audrey, Amberly, Isabelle, Michael, and Jack rushed through her brain, joined by Mr. Fisher, her band members, her section, her _real_ family. "I can't give up what I have now."

They said nothing; she knew she had chosen well.


	42. Start

Piper hadn't been herself since her mother had left, since her parents had split. She missed her mother immensely. She'd been deeply affected by her leaving. They'd tried to make her normal, back to the same old Piper. But they couldn't.

The first game of the season approached quickly. They were all in uniform, waiting on the side of the football field, tuning. Piper was beginning to look like herself again. A smile rested on her pretty face.

She strode out onto the field with everyone; they started to play. They started to march. And with that, Piper was _back_.


	43. Nature's Fury

Audrey got angry a lot. And Audrey _was_ furious. At Camden, a freshmen French horn, who had claimed to be better than her. Receiving the wrath of Audrey wasn't fun, it was actually quite frightening. She screamed, she yelled, she was worse then a tornado in a trailer park. Piper claimed that if you wrote a novel of all of Audrey's conversations, it would all be in Caps-Lock.

"WHAT THE HELL IS YOUR PROBLEM, CAMDEN?" It always started like that. Then he'd act confused. "YOU THINK YOU'RE BETTER THAN _ME_?"

You just provoked the wrath of something _worse_ than nature.


	44. At Peace

Within seconds, Piper was at Audrey's side. She shot an evil glare at Camden and drug Audrey off, "I thought I told you not to yell at the freshies."

"Because I listen to you _so often_," Audrey replied sarcastically.

Piper elbowed her in the ribs. "Honest to God, Audrey."

Audrey laughed; Piper was so very good at making her at peace, perfectly calm. The rage that had surged through her veins only a few minutes before had disappeared at the sound of Piper's soothing, sweet, albeit high-pitched voice. She was immediately calmed. She had the most talented best friend ever.


	45. Heart Song

**Hey, guys! Thought I'd leave an author's note... How do you like these drabbles? This one, the Happy Feet based one, is my absoluteeee favorite. I adore it. I don't know what made me think of Audrey and her screwed-up playing, and then James making that comment, but it's actually kind of funny if you ask me. )**

**-P**

* * *

During some downtime at one of the football games, they had transported into discussing movies. James, of course, brought up _Happy Feet_.

"It's the awesomest movie _ever_."

"Awesomest isn't a word."

"Shut up, Audrey."

"Well, it _isn't_," Piper agreed. Amberly nodded.

"Challenge this, little misses. What's your heart song?" He looked first at Piper, who played the first few measures of a classical piece. Then to Amberly, who started a memorized Sousa march.

Audrey held her French horn up to her lips and played an out-of-tune, amazingly _sucky_ note. "Tada."

"Michael, were you out of penguins to pick or something?"


	46. Reflection

Girls never see what they really look like when peering into a mirror. Amberly was a prime example. She sat with Jack before a football game, looking at her reflection in the back of her iPod. "God, I'm ugly."

"You're beautiful."

"Are you _blind_?"

"No, I see you. Your _amazing_ blonde hair that only you can pull off. Those big blue eyes, perfect. Little Gulfs of Mexico in your eyes, right there. Paler than Snow White, and you turn red as a cherry when I call you beautiful."

"You can see right through me."

"Wouldn't have it any other way."


	47. Perfection

Piper strived for it. She worked for it. She spent hours a day practicing for it. It was all she ever yearned for, and she already had that. It whispered in her ear that she wasn't there yet, that she wasn't good enough. She didn't have it, not yet. She was close, she could feel it.

She held her clarinet up to her lips, hoping to achieve it. That one word that everyone would one day use to describe her playing. Not flawless, not faultless. That one word that she despised. The word that would never leave her alone.

Perfect.


	48. Everyday Magic

"It's magical!"

"It's a _clarinet_, you freak," Audrey snapped at Piper.

"It's a _magical_ clarinet."

"It's _just_ a clarinet."

"It's brand new, and it's pretty, and it's shiny. Isn't it shiny?" Piper ran her finger over the smooth black surface of her new Selmer clarinet, pressing down on the silver keys. It had arrived with the UPS man the day before, and her mood around it had been the same since she'd opened the case.

"Yes, it's shiny."

"It's magically shiny."

"Give up on the magic, Piper," Audrey rolled her eyes.

"But it's fun!" Piper cried. "It's a _magic clarinet_!"


	49. Umbrella

**Who would have predicted that I'd use this song? Ha, ME! Okay, yeah... I don't own the lyrics. But I do like this drabble, it's my third favorite after Heart Song && Burning. I think it's funny how I always write Audrey as the one who gets yelled at for doing something stupid or stuff like that... **

_Ella, ella, _

_Eh, eh, eh,_

_Under my umbrella,_

_Ella, ella,_

_Eh, eh-_

"Piper, stop it!" James, Michael, and Jack cried.

"Always blame it on me, don't you?" she switched off her iPod. "I _like_ that song."

"You have got to be kidding me," Audrey shook her head.

"Nah, it's annoying as hell to James."

"Evil bitch," James muttered.

"You love your evil bitch!"

James launched himself out of his bus seat across from Piper- they were on their way to a competition- and kissed her hard. "You bet I do."

"_Ella, ella, eh, eh, eh. Under my umbrella. Ella-_"

"AUDREY!"

**So, I want to hear from you. If you like this drabble, I want you to tell me who you like the best;; Quirky clarinetist Piper, sarcastic and strange French horn Audrey, oddball trumpeter Amberly, or perfect flutist Isabelle, who will be more important in the drabbles as they continue. So, pick one!**


	50. Party

**So, today was the high school district tryouts. Being a middle schooler myself, I don't have them for two more weeks... Thank goodness! But my boyfriend had his today. Being a little too confident, that boy... shakes head Baritone players are so cocky sometimes. Okay, I just wrote my little life story on here... giggles Posting away!**

Piper had started a tradition. Then, at the end of her sophomore year, she was going to hold the annual goodbye party for all of the senior band members. It was a sappy idea, but she was feeling relatively sentimental about losing another batch of them, once again. The seniors had been reborn into freshmen, and there were only a few more days left of seeing them.

Seniors walked around being hugged by their band friends, being told how much they'd be missed. It was the last band geek party they'd ever attend as a marching band member. How sad.


	51. Troubling Thoughts

"God, Michael. Stop being an idiot," Audrey snapped at her boyfriend. Piper exchanged a look with Amberly. It was obvious when all was not well with Audrey; she was snappier than usual and usually at Michael or them.

They could only imagine what was going through their friend's head. She could be afraid that he didn't love her anymore; bored with their relationship; angry with him for saying something that upset her. It could be anything. And as a French horn player, she was amazingly _unpredictable_.

"You think she's ready to dump him?" Amberly offered.

Piper bit her lip. "Possibly."


	52. Stirring of the Wind

Audrey sat in the middle of her backyard, her French horn in her arms. The summer breeze hit her face and her hair fell into her eyes. She hadn't practiced since school had ended. She had no yearning to. She could only think about Michael.

It was unsettling, her relationship with him. She loved him, but she could only fear what would happen if he didn't. She was thinking of breaking up with him for _his_ sake. Why would he want to be stuck with crazy Audrey? Why would _anyone_ want that, ever?

She had to break up with him.


	53. Future

"Michael, we should end this."

"End _what_?" Michael replied to his girlfriend disbelievingly.

"This. _Us_. We shouldn't be going out anymore."

"What?"

"It's almost your senior year. You need to focus on it, not on _me_. I shouldn't be here, in your way. I'm just a distraction, you don't need me."

"You know I _do_ need you. More than anything."

"Whatever, Michael. It's selfish to keep you around when you have so much to worry about. College, passing senior year, all this _stuff_!"

"Audrey, _no_."

"I'm sorry, Michael," she sighed. "But we have to do this."

"Audrey, _please_!"

"Goodbye, Michael."


	54. Health & Healing

Audrey's heart hurt. Not heart-attack, rush-me-to-the-hospital, oh-God-I'm-gonna-die hurt, but heartbroken hurt. She knew she had a lot of reasons to feel crappy, but not _heartbroken_. If anyone was heartbroken, that would be Michael- and he was.

"Pipe," she groaned into her cell phone.

"Eat some chocolate and take a bubble bath," replied Piper immediately. "You have to learn to heal." She muttered something else that sounded like, "Wouldn't have this problem if you weren't such an idiot," but Audrey pretended to ignore it.

Audrey climbed out of bed to follow her friend's instructions; she hoped they _worked_. She felt terrible.


	55. Separation

Piper drug Audrey to band camp that July with Amberly, Jack, Isabelle, and James' help. She was reluctant; she didn't want to see Michael.

"You don't get it, Piper!" Audrey whined pitifully as they got to the band room door.

"What don't I get?" Piper glared at her friend.

"We're _broken up_. I can't see him, I can't face him. _We broke up_!"

"God, you're a wreck today," Amberly muttered bluntly, receiving a smack in the back of the head from Isabelle. "Thanks a lot."

"We just have to stay apart. If I see him, it'll only make it harder."


	56. Everything for You

Michael was depressed. He missed Audrey inexplicably. He didn't know why, besides that he loved her more than anything in the world.

Piper attacked him on the last day of band camp after they'd finished practicing. Typical. She was always pouncing on random people. "Michael, how do you plan on getting over her?"

She was always asking blunt questions, too. "I _don't_."

"That isn't healthy."

"Yeah, well. I don't feel like being healthy right now."

"You miss her?"

"She was everything to me."

"You do miss her."

"Apparently."

"She'll come running back."

"I'd do anything for her if she would."


	57. Slow Down

Amberly hated that time in summer. That time when all the bustle of constant activity was starting to end; kids were going to the nearest school-supplies store to stock up on pencils and lined paper, having the end-of-summer barbecues. How all the tourists that usually streamed to their small location in North Carolina by the shoreline stopped coming.

Everything just seemed slower that year, with Piper and James in their own world once again, Jack and Isabelle having one last family vacation before school was back in session, Michael and Audrey on the outs and not talking to each other.


	58. Lesson

School work. Band practice. Audrey avoiding Michael. Typical.

She packed her French horn up one day after practice; they'd been back for about four days. A shadow passed over her. "Go away, Piper."

"I don't look like Piper."

Audrey glanced up, "Damn it."

"I miss you, Audrey."

"Enjoy it."

"You know I love you."

"Yeah, I know."

"Do you still love me?"

She stared into his eyes. "Always."

"Then why can't you come back?"

"It's not such an easy thing to do…"

"Please, come back to me."

She jumped up and wrapped her arms around his neck. "I missed you."


	59. Challenged

Amberly narrowed her eyes at the flirty freshmen who was edging closer to James as the minutes ticked by. Eighth chair flutist, leggy, blonde.

The girl touched Jack's arm and laughed, "You are _so_ funny." Yes, because that wasn't an overused pickup line.

"Yeah, well," Jack shrugged. It was obvious that the girl was in love with him, but he wasn't really interested. He looked up at Amberly; she was glaring at them. Jack looked down at Catharine, "Oh, hey. You should meet my girlfriend. Amberly!"

Amberly smiled and walked over quickly. The frosh was now the glaring one; _ha_.


	60. Exhaustion

"I'm tired," Audrey said. Yes, well, a three-hour band practice after school usually did tire people out if they weren't fifteen feet away from a Starbucks.

"Me too," Amberly agreed. Her lips were dead.

"Me three," echoed James.

"Me four," said Jack.

"Me five," said Michael.

"Me six," Isabelle said, then looked at Piper to finish up.

"Bunch of followers," Piper teased. "Get a thesaurus or something. Find some synonyms. Weary. Worn out. Drained. Without energy. Dead. Fatigued."

"Ugh, shut up, Piper," James said.

"Sleepy. Drowsy," she smirked, happy to be bugging him. "Exhausted!"

"PIPER!" all of the boys yelled.


	61. Accuracy

"You need to play this _correctly_!" Mr. Fisher yelled at the collection of timid freshmen in front of him. Piper, Audrey, Amberly, and Isabelle were cracking up; he was hilarious when he was angry. "Practice your music, try hard, act like you care! Then when I shove you out on this field and you play your music, you play it _accurately_! Isn't that right, Pipper?" He glanced over at his hysterical favorite student and cocked an eyebrow.

She took a deep breath and grinned, "If you were so concerned about accuracy, you think you'd say my name right for once!"


	62. Irregular Orbit

"You're playing it wrong, Allie!" Piper snapped at the freshmen in front of her, making Allie tremble.

"Don't be so intense, Piper. It's okay, she's doing fine," James said from behind her.

She spun around on her heel, "Don't be so _intense_? First home game is _tonight_, damn it!"

"That doesn't mean you have to scare every talent out of the frosh!"

"Butt out, James! It's not _your_ section that you're dealing with! It's _mine_! If _my _section sounds like crap, it's _my _fault."

"Don't get mad, Pipe…"

"Whatever, _James_."

Piper and James, the perfect couple, _fighting_? That wasn't normal.


	63. Cold Embrace

Piper was leaving school for Thanksgiving break, as was James; the last Thanksgiving break he'd ever spend with her at their high school. But as he wrapped his arms around her tiny shoulders, James didn't feel like he was hugging Piper. Not sweet Piper, who smelled like peaches no matter what the weather was, who was warm and gave the best hugs in the world.

She pulled away before he did, and looked up at him, her eyes icy and her glare hard.

"I love you, Piper." Nothing. "Piper!"

"'Bye, James." She walked away, leaving him feeling cold and broken.


	64. Frost

_Tap, tap, tap_.

"What the hell?" Piper murmured groggily, pulling herself out of bed and over to her bedroom window. She glanced out it, and saw a figure dressed in all black standing out among the frosty grass. Another idiot freshmen on a quest for fitting in with the seniors? So aggravating.

She pushed open her window, and stuck her head out. "Who's down there?" Probably not the smartest idea, with rapists, stalkers, murderers. But it was Piper…

"I'm sorry, Piper."

"_James_?"

"Well, duh."

"What are you _doing_?"

"Apologizing… and freezing my ass off."

"Typical." She grinned; he was forgiven.


	65. A Moment In Time

"I think I want to stay like this forever," Piper muttered, snuggling in a little closer to her boyfriend, the two of them decked out in their ugly blue uniforms and shakos. James' baritone was in his arms, but it only blocked the wind, so she couldn't complain. Audrey, Amberly, Isabelle, Sticks- Isabelle's new boyfriend- Michael, and Jack sat around them, close to keep warm.

"I wouldn't mind staying like this, either," Audrey agreed quietly. "Maybe a little warmer."

Piper crinkled her bright pink nose, "The cold is half the fun!"

"Fun for who?"

"Oh, hush, Audrey. You're so pessimistic."


	66. Dangerous Territory

The look in Amberly's eyes were obvious; her stature was stiff and taller than normal, she held herself perfectly straight, glaring downwards. Catharine.

"Say it again," Amberly dared.

"You only have a chair because your boyfriend taught you how to play," Catharine repeated slowly, obviously mocking Amberly.

"This is how obvious it is that you're a _freshmen_," Amberly spat rudely. "You think that I, a girl trumpet player, can only earn my chair if my boyfriend _gives it to me_?"

"That's what happened," she replied matter-of-factly.

"Stupid bitch!" Amberly screamed. "Cross that line one more time, you idiot! You'll see!"


	67. Boundaries

"You know, sometimes I wonder if these freshmen understand _bubble space_," Piper said, sending a meaningful glare in the direction of Catharine and her Isabelle-and-Piper-worshipping cronies.

"Not particularly, they all came equipped with needles," Audrey replied wittily. She earned a high-five from Amberly.

"I agree," Amberly nodded, after doling out her high five to her friend.

"Of _course_ you do, you almost killed that frosh earlier," Piper giggled. "It was _hilarious_, for the record."

"They need to understand boundaries," Isabelle said, trying to cover up Piper's laughter which had taken a turn for hysterical.

"We need caution tape."

"Or Mace."


	68. Unsettling Revelations

Piper froze in her steps as she walked into the band room. It was right before the second semester started, and every band geek was in the band room, laughing and talking and playing video games on the television.

Her eyes skirted over to the group of trumpet geeks, where Amberly and Jack seemed to be holding court. Then to the group of video gamers; Audrey, James, and Michael were betting over who would win, Amanda or Sticks, on Halo 3.

It was one of the last times she'd be able to walk in and see her boyfriend like that.


	69. Shattered

"Damn it, James!" Piper rolled her eyes at James, who had shattered the glass in Mr. Fisher's office door. "He's going to _kill_ you!"

"Seniority," he drawled, as if that was the only excuse needed. "How much trouble can I get into?"

"Him dropping you out of concert band?"

"Oh, that," James laughed and put his arm around her. "Who'd have thought that a bell hammer could break a window that easily?"

"Oh, definitely," Piper snapped sarcastically. "Tripping over your baritone case and flying through the air, then pelting the hammer through the window? So gentle, can't believe it broke!"


	70. Bitter Silence

"Stay _away_ from Jack, little flutist. Don't let me catch you talking to him again, you little who-"

"Amberly!"

Amberly spun around from looking at Catharine and grinned innocently at her boyfriend, "Hey, baby."

"Why were you talking to Catharine?"

"Oh, nothing," she put her arms around his neck and went to kiss him, but he pulled back.

"God, why are you always acting like this?"

"Like _what_?"

"Like… a jealous bitch."

"I appreciate that, Jack. But I heard Catharine talking about her trying to steal you from me and-"

"You think it would _work_?"

She was silent. Bitterly silent.


	71. The True You

"You seriously thought it would work!" Jack yelled. "You thought I would pick a stupid blonde frosh over the love of my life?!"

The trumpet player backed up and touched her precious brass instrument on her chair for strength, a habit of hers. "I have jealousy problems, Jack."

"But you know I love you! God, Amberly! Is it you girls' job to screw everything up?"

She sensed an insult against her friends, and glared. "_Excuse me_?"

"You all try to screw everything _up!_ If this is the true Amberly, I don't want to date you anymore."

"Jack!"

"I'm _serious, _Amberly."


	72. Pretense

Jack had broken up with Amberly and they hadn't talked for two days. She'd called him, text-messaged him, instant-messaged him; he didn't acknowledge it. He sat stonily beside her in band, with her leaning forward to whisper to Piper and Audrey, or passing notes over to Isabelle.

After practice, Catharine approached him and grinned in mock sympathy. "I'm _so_ sorry about you and Amberly, Jackie-pooh," she stuck out her bottom lip.

He hated girls that attempted to be sympathetic, when it was really just a pretense so they could get to his heart. The trials of being a hot boy…


	73. Patience

"When do you think they'll get back together?" Piper asked James, grasping his arm around her tightly to keep warm in the brisk January weather.

"You have to wait for them to do it on their own terms, Pipe."

"James!"

"Oh, Piper, honestly. Do you have _any_ patience?"

"There may be three of the letters from patience in my name, that doesn't mean I actually have any."

"Of course not, why would I think that?"

"Don't really know, darling," Piper grinned and rested her head on his shoulder. "Do you think they'll get together _soon_?"

"God, Piper. Get some _patience_!"


	74. Midnight

_Tap, tap, tap_.

"Damn it," Piper growled, climbing out of bed. What _was_ it with people and waking her up in the dead of night? Stupid idiots. She opened her window and poked out her head, "Go to hell, Jack."

"Piper, come down."

Piper rolled her eyes, climbed through her window onto the back balcony, and descended the ladder. "_What_, Jack? My beauty sleep is at risk."

"Piper, you know I love Amberly."

"Of course." She really hoped that wasn't all he had to tell her.

"And that she's important to me?"

"Yes, Jack."

"I need to ask her something."


	75. Shadows

Piper watched Jack closely, the shadows of her house shading his face. He was morose, heartbroken; and he'd been the one to break up with Amberly, not vice versa. Well, love was strange…

"What do you need to ask her?"

Jack took a deep breath and removed a box from his coat pocket. Piper gasped; surely he wasn't going to ask Amberly to marry him. Jack passed the box to her. She lifted the lid; hopefully it was the house shadows that caused that diamond to look so real…

"It's a promise ring, Piper."

"You're giving this to Amberly?"

"Yup."


	76. Heartfelt Apology

Jack stopped Amberly before she left the band room one day in January. She glared up at him, still pained inside when she looked at him.

"Yes, Jack?" She said his name disdainfully.

"I'm sorry, Amberly."

"Of course you are. Who wouldn't be?"

"Amberly, please. You're amazing, and you didn't deserve to be treated the way I treated you. I miss you."

"Damn right I didn't!"

"Amberly, please forgive me."

"Why should I?"

Jack fished the box out of his pocket and handed it to her. "Open it." She did as instructed and gasped loudly. "That's why."

"Oh, my God."


	77. Memories

Raising hell on the back seats with the seniors. Making out with your significant other as soon as it got dark enough so the chaperones couldn't see. Falling asleep in some random position with an even more random person's ass in your face. Pissing off the drum major so badly she made you run two miles, even though she was your girlfriend and/or best friend. Confusing your director to think that his favorite student's name was pronounced completely different way then it actually was- ahem, Michael, Piper thanks you for that.

Our band memories are much better than _your_ memories.


	78. Change in the Weather

Piper sniffed the February air; definitely different. It wasn't the same as it had been the night before. There was a sickeningly sweet stench of candy hearts and cheap chocolate, mixed with roses- real and plastic. This Valentine's Day was joined with the thick smell of rain, as well. Super.

A loved day for chorus, literature, and drama geeks; a hated day for anybody who understood the terrible ramifications of eating a candy heart and playing a reed instrument, or otherwise, band geeks.

And what else? The evil thing that could make a band geek smile or frown; pouring rain.


	79. Illogical

**This situation actually happened. :) Funniest day of my life, I promise you**.

"That makes no sense, Ams."

"It does too!" Amberly cried, indignant.

"Amberly, no. If elephants were purple, we wouldn't have purple leather," Piper shook her head slowly, trying to get the thought through her friend's thick head.

"Purple elephants, purple leather!"

"No, Amberly," Audrey shook her head along with Piper.

"I'm right!"

"That's completely illogical."

"No it's not!"

"WE DON'T GET LEATHER FROM ELEPHANTS, DAMN IT!" Piper screamed, catching attention.

Amberly's face was shocked, as if she'd never heard such scandal. "I can't believe you said that! What will the elephants think?"

"'Thank God they don't get leather from us?'"


	80. Only Human

"You know, I didn't think it was possible for someone to be that stupid," Piper muttered after Amberly had walked away.

"All humans have very irrational thinking, Pipe. We get it from monkeys. We're only humans, anyway. It's typical to make mistakes."

Piper furrowed her brow and glared, "Yes, we're humans. But when was the last time we thought something about a purple land-mammal?"

"When we were six?"

"Exactly. We're only teenagers. Amberly, however, is a six-year-old who's convinced that we get purple leather from purple elephants!"

"Why does she want purple leather, anyway? Isn't she an animals' rights activist?"


	81. A Place to Belong

They fit in. All through school they fit in with friends that didn't appreciate band geeks. But marching band was their own little place. It was where they stuck out the most, where their closest friends were. Marching band was their heart, their soul- hell, for some of them, marching band was their brains, too. With those people, they had a place to belong. With the egotistical trumpets; the sarcastic trombones; the bitchy clarinets; the sweet- and gay if male- flutes; the obnoxiously loud percussionists; the shy and left-out saxophones. They had a real home.

That's all they ever wanted.


	82. Advantage

"Piper, give it back!" Audrey squealed pathetically.

Piper dangled Audrey's mouthpiece a foot above her friend's head, "Grow, and then we'll talk."

"It's no fair!"

"What isn't?"

"You're, like, five inches taller than me!"

"Six, actually."

"Still, it isn't fair! You have the edge! You're going to win! All because _you_ have six-foot King Kong parents."

"One, life isn't fair. Two, no duh I have the edge. Three, this isn't a freaking contest. And four, it's not _my_ fault that you have parents that look like they've been squished with a mallet!"

"You have an advantage! It's not _fair_!"

"Grow."


	83. Breakfast

The All-District tryouts were upon them. And that meant that the best players were stuck in a school bus at five o'clock in the morning, begging Mr. Fisher for food. And coffee.

"Do you know how hard it is to feed a busload of band geeks at five in the morning?" Mr. Fisher yelled.

"Damn it, Mr. Fisher! Forget breakfast, just get coffee in Piper before she bites one of our heads off!" Amberly yelled.

"Shut up, Amberly," Piper's voice growled. She was always bitchy _with _caffeine, it was just amplified when she didn't have it.

"We're definitely getting breakfast."


	84. Echoes

Piper walked into the audition hall, clarinet in hand, right after she tried out. It was deathly silent, for Piper had been first chair in District for four years. Her heels clicking and clacking on the wooden floor, everybody from every school was staring at her. If Piper felt she had done badly, there was no hope for the rest of the people in the room.

She stopped in the middle of the floor and eyed her friends, who sat a few yards away, worriedly watching. "First chair, yet again?" James offered.

"If there was anything higher, I'd have it."


	85. Falling

Piper was usually one of the first people off the bus, being a section leader, and she took her time. She knew the risks of falling; her clarinet could be destroyed in an instant. And being the immense klutz that she was, she needed no extra chance.

But that night after District tryouts, hyped up on a few random energy drinks- that should _never_ be mixed together- she wasn't so careful. She clattered off the bus, tripped on the bottom step, and flew forward.

Her case fell from her hand. She heard it hit the ground. Then James caught her.


	86. Picking Up The Pieces

Piper shrieked from James' arms and pointed at her case. The beautiful black pieces of her concert clarinet scattered all over the grey concrete caused her to break down into wracking sobs. Her precious clarinet that she'd had since _eighth grade_. It was the most valuable clarinet in the band. And there it lay, on the ground.

Amberly ran for it as soon as she knew Piper was all right. She scooped up the pieces, put them in the case, and took them to Mr. Fisher.

Mr. Fisher examined the pieces, and bowed his head. "Sorry, Piper. It's a goner."


	87. Gunshots

The worst noise a band geek could ever hear. The sound was gunshots in your ears, popping loudly and scaring you senseless. Every band geek stood fearfully, watching Piper sob hysterically. She was a bit _too _dramatic, but everyone understood why.

"I'm sorry, Piper. It's a goner."

The moment they moved from Mr. Fisher's lips, Piper rushed to take her instrument. She looked down at it, and knew he wasn't lying. The pieces were scratched badly, and her mouthpiece was shattered. Two keys had come clean off, and the rest were bent terribly. She hated herself for being so clumsy.


	88. Possession

Piper understood that possessions weren't important. She'd always been taught that. Her parents had injected it into her as a child, her friends were telling her it now. But she didn't believe them. She was going to be playing her marching band clarinet for All-District band, sitting first chair with a ridiculous dark blue clarinet in her hands. Her poor Selmer clarinet had no longer been a possession, it was a part of her. It had been that way since freshmen year. Now, it was gone, like a huge chunk of her had been ripped away. She was completely heartbroken.


	89. Twilight

Piper leaned forward in her seat at the District clinic to whisper to Audrey, who sat all too far away. The blue marching clarinet sat in her lap, and she'd earned a few laughs and smirks from it, until they heard her play. The minute a sound came from her bell, they shut up; she basked in it.

"Audrey, put the damn book away!" she hissed across the room. Audrey was all the way at the other side.

Audrey glanced down at the Twilight book she held, "Never!"

"Put it away!"

"I love these books!"

"Clarinet! French horn! Stop communicating!"


	90. Nowhere and Nothing

"You don't work hard enough, Piper. This is crucial!" Mr. Fisher was standing over her for the first time ever; she was seated.

"You think I don't know that? Making State is extremely important!" No one yelled at Piper, not even her band director.

"Then why aren't you working for it?"

"I am! On my marching clarinet! Not my beautiful six-thousand-dollar concert clarinet!"

"Piper, you aren't dedicated enough."

"There is _nowhere_ I'd rather be and _nothing_ I'd rather do than All-State, Mr. Fisher," she snapped.

"Well, you realize it. Now work for it, damn it!"

"I am working!"

"Prove it."


	91. Answers

"Did you prove him wrong?" James asked Piper.

"Did you make State?" asked Amberly.

"What chair did you make?" Audrey begged.

"Is the marching clarinet worse than the concert clarinet?" asked a freshmen.

The questions went on and on. Piper ignored them until she got to Mr. Fisher. It was Monday morning after All-State tryouts, a chilly morning in May. She had been angry with him since he'd claimed she wasn't working hard enough. But she had.

"Did you make it, Piper?" he asked. Everyone wanted to know. They wanted the answers. Did she make it?

"I MADE FIRST CHAIR!"


	92. Innocence

"Get off your ass and practice!" James yelled at one of the freshmen baritones. His girlfriend rushed up behind him as soon as he said it; super. The freshmen was staring at Piper… all of them had a crush on her. "I mean it, Eddy! Don't you want to still be in the damned band next year?"

"JAMES!"

"Yes, dear?" he said without turning around. He'd memorized Piper's voice when she angrily screeched his name.

"I will _not_ have you corrupting this poor innocent freshmen!"

"Innocent my ass. This one's made out with more girls than he's played wrong notes!"


	93. Simplicity

"You think this one is simple enough for Audrey?" Michael asked James. They stood in the middle of the jewelry store in their small town, and Michael was quite perplexed. He held up a French horn-shaped charm that hung off a silver chain. Michael knew that Audrey was proud of her simplicity, of her unique sense of knowing when enough was enough. Very basic, minimal, plain.

James, however, was stuck with Piper. Complex, over-the-top, high-maintenance, aggravating, confusing Piper. James examined it, "You can really describe a French horn as simple?"

"No, but this is as simple as it's gonna get!"


	94. Reality

"They're graduating," Piper sighed deeply, holding back a tear. "They're graduating _tomorrow_." She looked at her strange, klutzy, gawky boyfriend playing a video game with Jack and Michael.

"Yeah," Amberly sighed with her, resting her head on her friend's shoulder. "You know, this year's been kind of a dream. A really perfect, albeit kinda dramatic, dream. Today has been kind of an eye-opener."

"Today's our alarm for reality," Piper said. "Reality, that our boyfriends are going off to college and may not be our boyfriends anymore."

"You don't think they would?"

"We gotta face reality, Ams."

"I hate reality."

"Agreed."


	95. Acceptance

"We're graduating tomorrow," James said lowly to Jack.

Jack nodded his head, his black hair flying crazily around him. "Yeah, I know. We're leaving the most important things in our lives in two and a half months!"

"We're moving on…"

"What if _they_ move on?" he pointed at the girls, seated a little bit away watching.

"They wouldn't!" James hissed. "They wouldn't leave us… would they?"

"We've got to accept the fact that it's a possibility- they won't see us for months at a time. It'll never be the same for us."

"Yes, it will. We'll make it work, Jack."


	96. Luck

Mr. Fisher always did one thing for his seniors. The ones he'd been with longest, the ones he'd yelled at most- not counting Piper, Amberly, Audrey, Sticks, and Isabelle. He would do whatever they needed to get them into college or earn them scholarships.

But the one thing that the seniors really cared about, really appreciated, was what Mr. Fisher would do at the graduation ceremony. After conducting his band, he'd sit down to watch the seniors. When they got their diplomas, he'd stand up and cheer with the band members. It was their lucky charm, the band director's blessings.


	97. Enthusiasm

It was hard for Piper to be excited. It was hard for her to smile. It was hard for her to go and play Pomp and Circumstance while they marched up to get their diplomas. It was hard to say goodbye.

She knew that her lack of enthusiasm would be noticed by her graduating boyfriend. She knew that he'd understand why. She knew that her friends were the same as she.

But she just _didn't_ know why James was so excited. Sure, school was over for him- big whoop. He was leaving _her_, Amberly, Audrey, Isabelle, Mr. Fisher, his _band_.


	98. Game

Piper had to give the dreaded goodbye speech. In front of everyone in her band, she had to act like she was happy for James. When it really broke her heart.

"The marching band has never been so proud of you as they are now; not when James placed first in State in his sophomore year, or when Michael came up with the for the lost and found. Not when Jack learned to play with a broken wrist- that _still_ confuses Amberly, Jack. But now we know how proud we've always been. You played the game of school. You _won_."


	99. Friendship

The boys were with their families after graduation. Piper, Amberly, Audrey, and Sticks- Isabelle was with her brother- were left alone. They went out to the band room, where Mr. Fisher was probably crying over the seniors leaving.

Piper sat down, trying to look like she wasn't sad. She looked up at her friends, tears leaking from the corners of her eyes. He wasn't even gone yet, and she was already sobbing.

All three of them wrapped their arms around her, and Amberly patted her back. Soon all of the girls were crying. "This is why we're friends," Amberly said.


	100. Endings

**This is the end!!!! tear Sad, I kind of wrote these characters as they grew and now I'm a little attached... TIME FOR A FULL-LENGTH SERIES! Yeah, I'm sure you're all very ready for that. :) I am, at least. **

**So, I always put my mind to things-- and I have very little life. :) So, I'm sure my boyfriend appreciates oh so much how much time I spend writing my drabbles and not hanging out with him, but hey. What can I do? I love writing, and marching band, and this is a combination of the two! How awesome is that?**

* * *

"Congratulations, James. I'm proud of you," Piper said softly. Her boyfriend watched her say it- she stared at her feet the whole time.

"You aren't happy that this is over for me," he said. "I'm not happy that this is over, either. There's a lot of things I'm gonna miss- but mostly _you_."

* * *

"I really hate this, Audrey."

"Why, Michael?"

"I'm graduating, yes. But I have to leave _you_."

"Big old sap."

* * *

"Amberly, my college is only a half hour away."

"But you still have to board in the dorms!"

"I'll be home every weekend."

"Promise?"

"Of course."


End file.
